Poem: The Power of Being Humane

The United States of America has surrendered

all claims to moral superiority.

We’re the world’s largest exporter of state-sponsored terrorism and international perfidy.

We operate one-thousand overseas military

bases in places

that, best case scenario,

put up with our presence begrudgingly, sullenly,

involuntarily hosting the bellicose bully with a B-2 bomber,

the abusive uncle who shows up uninvited then stays too long and brays too loud.

Of course we torture. Of course we do. There’s only so much remote-controlled drone killing

an Agency can take

before it craves some hands-on fun.

Over time, war crimes fade to mere mistakes

and the hate we vented on vanquished antagonists

gets repackaged as heroism by charlatans and fakes.

Power is not a children’s toy.

It’s the lover’s climax for those who cannot love.

Power is the invisible weapon

hoarded by pigs in finely tailored suits

who rob our children from the cradle to feed the dogs of war.

When will we raise our collective voice and say “no more”?

A well-lived life involves adding one little letter, one small “e,”

to human.

It’s so simple a child could do it,

if he weren’t conditioned to hate the other,

if he weren’t trained to kill his brother.

Lets’ not live our lives in vain.

We humans exalt ourselves when we become humane.